DMK's A Saravanan attempts clarification on his controversial 'Kashmir not integral part of India' claim, read here

DMK spokesperson A Saravanan in a statement refuted to allegations against him over the J&K debate, despite claiming it on record that Kashmir was 'never an integral part of India' on Republic TV's Debate with Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami on August 12. 

In a statement issued by DMK, Saravanan has stated that he still maintains his stand that he never uttered anything 'against the integrity of the country.'

Justifying his side,  he stated that he meant to say, "Kashmir was never an integral part of India" in the context during the independence and that Kashmir was made an 'integral part only in 1956, as per the agreement with Raja Hari Singh.' 

Moreover, Saravanan maintained that he was not given the space to clarify the remarks made during the debate on Republic TV. 

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He further said that he 'did not run away' amid the debate, but was only 'forced' to leave after being 'targeted' by Arnab Goswami and the fellow panelists, following his statement on Kashmir.

He said: 

"As soon as I said 'India was never an integral part of India', Arnab Goswami asked 'How can you say it is not a part of the country'" 

"The 'was' changed to 'is' by them," the DMK spokesperson alleged. 

However, amid the heated debate, Arnab Goswami said that he wished to 'engage with Saravanan one-on-one,' giving the DMK representative an opportunity to clarify his stance on Kashmir, however, the DMK representative chose to walk out of the debate mid-way. 

He alleged that he left the show since he was being 'targeted with strong words,' and accused the BJP sympathisers of attacking him on social media by 'spreading fake propaganda' with the edited clip. He added that he or any other party representative never spoke against the integrity of the country, and 'would never do so.'

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WATCH THE FULL DEBATE HERE